The Hall: A Drabble Collection
by Come Lady Death
Summary: There is a deserted hallway on Destiny that leads everywhere and nowhere. It is a hall of secrets, short confessions written in sharpie on the walls. People tell things to the wall that they would never admit aloud. Dreams, hopes, and fears...
1. Introduction

**Title**: The Hall: A Drabble Collection

**Spoilers**: _Air_, _Sabotage_, _Intervention_, and _Justice_

**Prompt**: Challenge #30 - Post Secret

**Characters**: Chloe Armstrong, Everett Young, Camile Wray, Nicholas Rush, Tamara Johansen, Lisa Park, Vanessa James, several appearances by the great one known as Anonymous (interpret as you see fit).

**Words**: 100 even each

**A/N**: The inspiration and idea for this project comes strictly from Keira Marcos' fic Touching Secrets.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own them. If I did, you'd know by the marked lack of DEAD PEOPLE!

There is a deserted hallway on Destiny that leads everywhere and nowhere. It is a hall of secrets, short confessions written in sharpie on the walls. The first one appeared soon after they arrived and the walls began to steadily fill after that. No one knows whose secrets is whose, but they can guess. Some are obvious. Some, not so. No one watches the hall; they have more respect than that. It is a place for laughter and tears, where angels and kinos fear to tred. People tell things to the wall that they would never admit aloud. Dreams, hopes, kinks, fears...


	2. I'm Glad He's Dead

_I'm glad he's dead_

The shaky red words in the center of the left wall made people wonder. They'd brush their fingers over the words and think, _who? _Who was glad who was dead? Many had died since they'd come here; some heroically, some pointlessly. All tragically. Who could be glad of a death, no matter whose? No one hated that much.

But hate hadn't written that note. Love had.

And Chloe didn't wonder who wrote it. She knew.

Sometimes she'd go to the wall and stare at the words, wanting to destroy them and the feelings behind them.

She always left both alone.


	3. I Miss My Cat More Than I Miss Her

_I miss my cat more than I miss her_

They say when you have a girlfriend, you should really miss her when you're away. You should think about her, want to be with her, long to hold her and kiss her or even just talk to her.

I have a girlfriend. Or at least, I did before this whole thing started.

I don't miss her. I barely think about her at all. I find myself thinking more about my poor cat. Mrs. Pickles was about to have kittens when I left home. I can't even think how big they must be now...

Does this make me a bad person?


	4. The Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me

_This is the best thing that's ever happened to me_

I guess that's not what most people would say. I mean, we're trapped on a spaceship galaxies away from everything we've ever known with no way of getting back. We're always low on supplies and if we're not fighting each other, we're battling aliens.

Wow, way to be depressing, Eli.

But really, _Destiny_ is the best thing that's ever happened to me. I've seen things no one's ever seen, done things no one's ever done. I have the best friends a guy could have. I'm appreciated not only for my brain, but for myself.

It's not perfect, but I'm happy.


	5. My Only Regret: Missing The World Series

_My only regret is missing the World Series_

Franklin complained a lot. They all did. But the only thing he really regretted was missing the World Series. Baseball was his hobby and watching was important to him. This would be the first Series he'd ever missed.

They promised he could use the stones to watch, or at least get the scores.

He was gone before the first game was played.

With a twinge of sadness, Volker pulled out a pen and wrote his own note under Franklin's.

_11-7 - Giants_

_9-0 - Giants_

_4-2 - Rangers_

_3-1 - Giants_

_Giants win the Series, buddy. Wish you were here._


	6. How Can You Miss Someone You Never Met?

_I miss her every day. How can you miss someone you've never met?_

For several months his thoughts had been filled with her. Wondering about her. Wondering how he could be a father to her out here.

Sometimes he'd go into the infirmary just to look at the gentle curve of TJ's midsection. TJ would smile and beckon him in. She'd hold his hand against her stomach and he could feel the kick of their daughter against his palm. In spite of everything, he couldn't wait to be her father.

Now there was emptiness where she had been. He'd never seen her face, never had the privilege of holding her in his arms.

So why did her loss hurt so much?


	7. I Don't Care If We All Die Out Here

_I don't care if we all die out here_

No one would ever suspect that _you've_ written this one. After all, you fight for their survival every single day like you do care, like living to see Earth again is the driving force behind it all.

But somewhere in the struggling and the fighting, you've stopped caring. Living or dying on this great alien ship doesn't make a difference to you, not anymore. You would pull the plug yourself, kill everyone aboard, bring it all to an end. If only you were brave enough.

But you're not.

So you confess to the wall and fight to live another day.


	8. I Love You

_I love you_

Vanessa wrote it carefully in her best hand, very different from her normal scrawl. This kind of admission deserved something special.

She sat back on her heels and lightly touched the curly letters looping over the metal. He'd know it was her. He had to know. She couldn't make it any plainer and still he stayed with...her.

Vanessa raised the marker again and angrily penned _I hate her_. She immediately regretted it and swiped away the cruel words with her sleeve. It wasn't Chloe's fault. It was his. It was Matt she should be hating. But she just... couldn't.


	9. Do The Rules Even Matter Now?

_Do the rules even matter now?_

It's his stupid military's fault that I can't hold his hand when I'm afraid or hold him close in the gateroom after he almost dies. Again. But he won't ruin his career for me and I won't ruin it for him. I suppose I should just be lucky he's here with me instead of back on Earth.

We're on the other side of the universe, for heavens sake. I need him. Do their stupid regs make a difference here, where the rules are constantly changing and nothing is ever certain? I don't think DADT matters anymore.

He thinks it does.


	10. I Never Want To Go Home

_I love it out here. I never want to go home._

The unimaginable colors of FTL raced by in silence. Without warning _Destiny _dropped abruptly out of roiling color and into the diamond dark of normal space. Lisa Park looked out eagerly, wondering what they would find at this stop. Life, death, peace, war. Who knew?

Lisa loved this; the beauty and excitement and danger. She could naturally do without the danger, but the things they saw and did... Those made everything worthwhile.

Life here was so much harder than life on Earth. It was so much stranger, darker, madder...

And so much better.

She never wanted to go back home.


	11. HELP

_HELP_

She checked carefully before coming. She wanted to make sure no one saw her here. The walls beckoned, empty spaces begging for words. But what words could encompass her terror of this place, her sleepless nights when she knew with absolute certainty that she was going to die alone out here and no one would ever miss her?

She wanted to pour out her fears onto the walls and leave them there. But she couldn't. There were no words. There was only one thing she could say.

Trembling, she crouched and sketched the single word quickly before fleeing the hall.


	12. I Hate Him And I'd Kill Him

_I hate him. I'd kill him if he wasn't the only thing keeping us alive_

I lie awake at night thinking up ways to kill him. It's relaxing and I can get pretty creative when I want to.

I'd do it too, in a heartbeat. That's how much I hate him.

He thinks he's so much better than me and looks at me like so much dirt on his boot. He's so smug. He thinks he knows everything; thinks he's the only one who can save the day.

Trouble is, he's right.

I wish he wasn't.

Because the more I'm around him, the more I actually sorta like him. And that makes me hate myself.


	13. I'm Lying To All Of You

_I'm lying to all of you. Sometimes I wish someone was clever enough to find me out_

I am perfect. I am kind. I am gentle. I am brave. I am tough. I am modest. I am Tamara Johansen.

I am a liar.

I'm too ashamed to tell anyone anything real about myself. They would be too scared. I could never look them in the eyes again. Lying is so much easier and safer. No one ever realizes, no one ever sees my deceptions.

I am good.

It breaks my heart when they trust me with their secrets. I can never trust them with mine. It hurts too much.

But sometimes, just sometimes...

I wish someone knew.


	14. I Can't Take This Much Longer

_I can't take this much longer_

Everyone knew whose words these were. Written in deceptively feminine pink sharpie, Spencer's admission seemed to leap out of the wall. Grouped around his confession were notes of regret.

_I wish I'd helped him. There was nothing we could do. It shouldn't have happened. I'm sorry._

The words were empty and futile now. Spencer was gone, having extinguished his own life in a fit of depression. No one had liked the man, but everyone felt his loss. Part of what they felt was regret that it had happened at all.

A larger part was fear that they would snap next.


	15. Do You Know How Annoying You Are?

_Do you have any idea how annoying you are?_

The words spearing across the bulkhead in angry black letters belong to Dr. Nicholas Rush. He'd previously sworn he'd never write in the hall. Yet here he was, jabbing the marker at the wall as if it had done him a great injustice.

There were many people these words could apply to. Young, Park, Volker, Brody, and others. They really didn't realize how irritating they were. They thought they were being helpful. And that was what made them so obnoxious.

Rush nibbled pensively at the end of his marker. Maybe this would give at least one of them a clue.


	16. This Is Home Now

_This is home now_

Camile's hand shook as she wrote. Each letter broke her heart a little more, but writing the truth made it real.

She blinked back tears and stood away from the wall. Her eyes skimmed over the secrets scribbled there. Thoughts sacred and profane scattered over the metal for all to see. This was the heart of her family, the people she now realized she would spend the rest of her life with. They would never get home. She understood that now.

Camile took a deep breath. Accepting their fate, strangely, didn't feel like giving up.

It felt like being freed.


End file.
